Review of The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) by Bass 9 — 19 May 2013

Despite liking the movie, with its solid cast and good characters, there's something about it that keeps it from being really good. I think it's overall a good coming-of-age story but the film's main character, Francis, sort of lacks a certain depth about him to make the film more than what it is.

The most interesting character in the entire film ends up being Tim because I do think they do a great job at telling you that Tim's personality and his rebellion really are a product of his home life.

They never go into it a lot, but in comparison to Tim, Francis ends up feeling a little dull as a character and his relationship with Margie, outside of the secret, isn't really well-developed, or that interesting, either.

And the comic book stuff spliced in at certain points during the movie isn't really that effective. I don't wanna say it takes away from it, as a lot of it does reflect what's going on in the main story, but it doesn't add anything to the movie at all.

At least it's well-animated. I also thought that the ending felt a bit exploitative, it certainly makes sense considering what they were trying to do. I don't think it was very melodramatic at all and it leads to Emile Hirsch's best scene in the movie, but it still felt a bit exploitative.

I did like the acting, it's definitely a highlight of the film and I like that the film certainly has some insight on teenage life with heart and humor. Still, the movie is just a little disappointing.

Not that I had high expectations, but there's just no moment where this film could ever be considered great. This is still a perfectly solid movie, nothing extraordinary here.